Rust Dragon

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Neutral creatures
Level 1
Peasant Peasant
Halfling Halfling
Level 2
Rogue Rogue
Boar Boar
Leprechaun Leprechaun Horn of the Abyss
Level 3
Nomad Nomad
Mummy Mummy
Level 4
Sharpshooter Sharpshooter
Satyr Satyr Horn of the Abyss
Steel Golem Steel Golem Horn of the Abyss
Level 5
Troll Troll
Gold Golem Gold Golem
Fangarm Fangarm Horn of the Abyss
Level 6
Diamond Golem Diamond Golem
Enchanter Enchanter
Level 7
Faerie Dragon Faerie Dragon
Rust Dragon Rust Dragon
Crystal Dragon Crystal Dragon
Azure Dragon Azure Dragon
Towns
Castle Rampart Tower
Inferno Necropolis Dungeon
Stronghold Fortress Conflux
Cove Factory
Neutral
Statistics
Rust Dragon
 Cost per troop 

15000

14
Attack 30
Defense 30
Damage 50
Health 750
Speed 17
Movement Flying
Size 2
Growth 1
AI Value 26433
 Special abilities:
Acid breath
Breath attack
Dragon
Portraits
[[File:{{{U_name}}} portrait.png]] [[File:{{{U_name}}} portrait (HotA).png]]
Shadow of Death   Horn of the Abyss Shadow of Death [[File:Mini Portrait {{{U_name}}}.png]]  Horn of the Abyss
Sulfurous Lair  

Rust Dragons are level 7 neutral creatures recruited from the Sulfurous Lair.

"Rust Dragons are known to hunt Gorgons, and live and feed in sulfur mines. With this appetite, Rust Dragons spew a concentrated acid as their primary attack. This acid is capable of eating through the strongest armor, lowering the defense of its target while inflicting further damage." AB manual

Placing Rust Dragons (as well as any living Dragons) in the Skeleton Transformer will give you Bone Dragons instead of regular Skeletons.

Special Ability: Acid Breath[edit | hide | hide all]

Acid breath special ability may occur after a stack of Rust Dragons have attacked target creature stack and before the stack has a chance to retaliate. The breath reduces the target stack's defense by 3, and has 20 % chance to cause additional damage amount of 25 points per attacking unit.

Heroes with a specialty[edit | hide]

Appearance[edit | hide]

Rust Dragons were added in Armageddon's Blade, so there are no Rust Dragons or Sulfurous Lairs in Restoration of Erathia. They also prominently appear in the Rust Dragons scenario from the Dragon Slayer campaign in from Armageddon's Blade.

Official Renders[edit | hide]

User commentary

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Some may find the information in this section subjective or irrelevant.

With their incredibly high speed, health, and attack damage, Rust Dragons are generally considered the third strongest creatures in the game, following only Azure Dragons and Crystal Dragons in raw stats.


Even though in the game files themselves the Rust Dragon and other neutral dragons are considered to be level 7, the official editor shows they are level 10 (8 for Faerie Dragon). This is either due to code limitations and impossibility of creating a unit with tier higher than 7, either because the developers didn't have time, motivation or reason to add a new creature level in the game code and invest time in that, just telling us they are level 10, respectively 8. As such, even now their levels are still being debated.

Toughness

Rust Dragons are true tanks; same defense as an Archangel and thrice the health, these dragons will endure much damage in early, mid-game and even some in late-game. In early game especially, it is pointless to fight them without Mighty Gorgons or Sea Dogs or powerful spells.

Offense

With a fixed damage of 50, same as an Angel or Archangel, and same attack stat as the latter, the Rust Dragons will usually deal less damage than expected. However, they are backed up by their toughness, speed and their very strategical ability, Acid breath, which reduces the target stack's defense for the rest of the battle, its effect being cumulative too. Keep in mind, they can also strike two troops by breath attack, just like most dragons.

Efficiency and cost

For a significantly lower cost in gold Gold than a Crystal Dragon's, the Rust Dragon's more "expensive" price to pay is the sulfur Sulfur, especially for a Dungeon army. Unless having a large amount of special resources, if playing with a Dungeon army you might not want to recruit more than one for the tactical advantage. Otherwise, it's a good addition for its price, as any neutral dragon.

Tactics

The strategy of a Rust Dragon is simple: block shooters, lower defense of enemy troops and soak retaliations. Aside from their powerful stats, they are vulnerable to spells, so beware of Implosion if you don't have more than 2 such dragons. On the other hand, they can be resurrected if you have enough spell power or buffed by positive spells.

If the enemy army is more of a threat and these dragons' numbers are low, you should not prioritize them too much. To fight them, it is needed to have high stats and many high level troops, so they can deal enough damage to kill them. As said before, spells such as Implosion are good.

Skill bonuses

Due to their raw strength, Rust Dragons don't get too much of a benefit from hero skills, aside from maybe Offense, since their damage is relatively low.


See also:[edit | hide]